advocates, including the national rifle association, as well as gun retailers and representatives from the entertainment industry. while some participants described the meetings and open and frank, the nra had some harsh words. >> the administration was able to check the box and say they had talked to representatives of the firearms owners and the groups that support the second amendment. >> as those meetings were takes place, another school shooting. this one in a rural school in california. with flu deaths increase in the west, people are getting concerned and rushing to get flu shots. the demand is leading to a vaccine shortage in some areas. >> reporter: the cdc says 128 million doses have been delivered. only 135 million have been made.

experts say you can be exposed to the virus six feet away from a person who coughs or sneezes. once you are infected it is easy to pass it on to family and co-workers even before you have symptoms. an adult can be contagious 24 hours before they feel ill and make others sick up to a week afterward. >> reporter: 135 million have >> been made. in addition to a flu shot, doctors recommend frequently cleaning your hands and areas around you. a little perspective on that. on average, a work desk reportedly holds 400 times more than germs than a toilet seat. the effects of some sleeping pills could be more severe than originally thought especially for women. new evidence shows drugs can stay in the blood stream at high enough levels to make it difficult to drive or concentrate the next morning. the fda is ordering the makers of ambien and other sleep medications to hav the doses. the fda has received more than 700 reports of driving related

mishappens related to common sleep aids like ambien. defense secretary leon panetta warns the military could be hollowed out if congress doesn't come to a budget deal. acting before congress does or the automatic cuts take effect, panetta ordered cost cutting measures including delaying contracts and a freeze on hiring. both panetta and general martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff agree military readiness should not be affected. >> if fiscal uncertainty has become a very serious threat to our national security. >> readiness is what's now in jeopardy. we're on the brink of creating a hollow force, the very thing we said we must avoid. >> secretary panetta said he intends to stemt u.s. troops from any cuts. the afghan president hamid karzai will hold a meeting today with president obama about troop levels. in advance of that he met with secretary of state hillary clinton about handing off

security responsibility to afghan forces by 2014. at one point secretary clinton joked about secretary panetta's plans to retire to his walnut farm in california. >> secretary panetta, in addition to his many years of service, is at heart about walnuts. >> clinton and panetta had a private dinner with karzai at the state department. new information about last year's secret service scandal involving prostitutes in colombia. according to a justice department investigation obtained by nbc news, two drug enforcement agents facilitated a sexual encounter between a prostitute and secret service agent just days before the president's visit in april. agents evidently tried to destroy incriminating information or initially lied to investigators about the incident. the case has been referred to the dea. louisiana governor bobby jindal has declared a state of

emergency after a severe weather system rolled across the state. security cameras at an industrial plant caught a glimpse of a tornado that tore through plaquemines parish and destroyed a roof. but the real damage has come from flooding. much of the state has been soaked by a slow-moving storm system. good morning. >> winter storm warnings, advisories. >> everything. >> yes. it is a pretty decent storm out west. we'll see another several inches of snow from billings, montana right down into salt lake city. perhaps another 6 to 10 inches of snow in that area. the rain yesterday that fell across louisiana is now going to move through indiana and ohio. also michigan, too. that's your trouble spot for today. but really out west you can see the snow. it doesn't look all that impressive but it is going to accumulate as it just sits and falls right across portions of

montana. right down into wyoming. into salt lake city and moving through colorado as well. seattle is finally going to see some sunshine today. northwestern california will see a little bit of light rain but for the most part the trouble spots will be across the middle of the country. high temperatures today look fairly typical for this time of year. we should top out in the 50s down in san francisco. that's a look at fallon, nevada, 30 degrees with finally a break from some of that snow. we are going to see a break from the rain today in seattle but more rain will move in for the weekend. >> looks like it might and good ski weekend for a lot of folks there. >> that's the plus side for sure. great ski snow. >> thank you. stocks rock as the s&p hits a five-year high. an update on stranded whales and thousands of white collar jobs coming to the u.s. plus, the huge cruise liner that ran ashore.

we go toitly lto italy to see costa concordia is one year later. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. some stories now making news this morning. california governor jerry brown may have done the impossible. in 2010 when he took office in california, it faced a $26 billion deficit. but by 2014, brown may enjoy a surplus of over $20 million. in colorado james holmes will be tried in the aurora theater rampage that left 12 people dead and another 70 wounded. defense lawyers said they were not ready to enter a plea and are expected to use an insanity defense there. in canada, 11 killer whales that were locked in by ice with only a small area of open water for them to surface and breathe are now free. a change in the water current may have helped break open a path to the sea rescuing the

orcas. a worried looking south carolina governor nikki haley said good-bye to her husband captain michael haley after he departed with his national guard unit after a month of training. they will deploy to afghanistan. a very big snake hitched a ride on a quantas airlines jet from australia. the ten-foot long pylon wenled itself between the fuselage and wing but was fighting wind of 250 miles per hour and it did not survive that flight. on sunday, it will be one year since the italian cruise liner, the "costa concordia" ran aground killing 32 passengers. preparations are under way for the memorial at the half-sunken ship. nbc's michelle kosinski is there with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: hi, richard. on sunday it will be one year since the costa concordia disaster. people are starting to arrive for this service. people are always amazed to see that, yes, it is still here in the exact same position it was. what has changed, you can see

these enormous structures that salvage crews have built around it. they've been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week preparing to finally roll it upright, then float it out of here. probably not until the fall. today you talked to the survivors of this and for them, the emotional aspect is just as present, just as strong. there's a lot of anger toward the company that this happened at all and also they say for the way they were treated immediately after the wreck. on sunday there will be a memorial service for the 32 who did not make it off this ship safely. among them, an american couple, a little girl, a woman on her honeymoon. as part of the service there will be a moment of silence, they'll hold a mass. including a piece of the boulder the ship struck causing that enormous gash. they'll put it back in the sea in the place where it originally was. richard? >> nbc's michelle kosinski. thank you. stocks on a roll as the s&p hits a five-year high.

big news on the aviation front. faa orpded a review of new boeing 787 airliners. they'll hold a news conference discussing orders related to the new dreamliner. new plane experienced three problems this week, including a electrical fire that caused severe damage to one plane. good news coming from ford which plans to hire 2,200 new white collar workers including engineers and computer programmers. this hiring will happen this year as demand for new vehicles is picking up. bad news from american express which plans to shave about 5,400 jobs, most from its travel business as customers book more online. scholastic has donated about 1 million new books to schools in new jersey that were ravaged by hurricane sandy. the did shell oil move an oil rig that ran aground to avoid millions in taxes.

did shell oil move an oil rig that ran aground to avoid millions in taxe did shell oil move an oil rig that ran aground to avoid millions in taxes. that's a question ed markey is asking but shell denied the accusation, but said the rig was moved due to weather. one texas company may have the solution to fuzz growing on your white bread. a technology that bomb bardz bread with microwaves killing mold spores and keeping bread mold-free for 60 days. too bad the bread will probably go stale way before that happens. tim tebow snubbed again. al sharpton teams up with tyler perry on a cold case. and turning on your faucet only to find flammable water. denails next.

we couldn't help ourselves. it is a yearly favorite. video of the water skiing squirrel. twiggy will be performing at the boat show in den very this weekend and word has it she'll be sporting a denver broncos life jacket. she and her owner travel all over the world promoting water and boat safety. stories making news across america. l.a. police are on the hunt for two armed robbers after they held mall employees hostage for several hours. s.w.a.t. team members executed a raid on the nordstrom rack store. 14 employees were found safe in a back room but the gunmen were gone. in ohio xuftable water supplies turned one home in a recipe for das per. the family discovered elevated levels of methane and chloride in the tap water after a lit candle caused the kitchen sink to flame up with the combustible mix.

investigators are sturmd since there are no signs of water contamination in neighbors homes. al sharpton and ben gelis are calling on the fbi to find a missing man. perry is offering a $1,000 reward for the men who disappeared. in indianapolis, a rooster hanging out downtown gave animal control officers quite a headache. ♪ the elusive fowl was eventually captured. no word on who it belongs to. in sports we start with a big upset in college basketball. number four arizona was surprised by unranked oregon who led most of the way. arizona surged in the fourth quarter but oregon held on for a

70-56 upset. and human growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs back in the spotlight. there's official confirmation that junior seau had cte, a degenerative brain disease, he joins pittsburgh's mike webster and david duerson of the bears and others. tim tebow will not be playing for the jacksonville jaguars next season. the team you a new general manager said he can't imagine a scenario in which tebow will be a jacksonville jaguar even if he is released by the new york jets. the nfl playoffs start on say day. baltimore plays in denver and green bay will be at san francisco. on sunday, seattle visits the top-seeded atlanta falcons and houston will be at new england. in hawaii at the pga sony open, k.j. choy's ball lands directly on top of the ball of webb simpson.

simpson got a birdie and choy recovered with a par but that's a shot you do not see every day. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, justin timberlake and beyonce have big plans to share with everyone. plus, a real-life rescue with just in the nick of time ending. you're watching "early today."

good morning. and welcome back.

we've got pretty seasonable air from seattle down to california. it is 11 right now in billings, montana. that's the warmest it is going to be all day. most of the cold air across the country is felt out west. we have this snowstorm going on from montana right down into wyoming and salt lake city. but seattle will see a lot of sunshine today. a little chilly, 38 degrees. you got to go down into medford, oregon to get some of the rain and snow. seattle will see the rain return as we go into the weekend. 8 in billings. not so bad here. it is the cia versus the lapd at the box office this weekend. after being in limited release for the past few weeks, zero dark 30 is going wide fresh off its five oscar nominations. gangster squad may take first place this weekend thanks to box office draws ryan gosselin and emfa stone there. what does this 9-year-old want to know that she's nominated for a best actress oscar? what any other 9-year-old would

want to do -- get pizza and go on a toys "r" us shopping spree. right? well, she's the youngest best actress nominee ever. in case you didn't know it, justin bieber fans know no bounds. they're accusing an 18-year-old bieber dople ganger posing as the singer in those weed pictures. the lookalike says he does not smoke weed and would never do that to the biebs. justin timberlake's new album is months or even years out but beyonce shock destiny's child fans by announcing a new record will be out january 29th. we mean a compilation of new songs. how can she be working when she's raising that kid and having a kid. right? >> i'm sure she has a lot of help. this comes to us from kxas nbc 5 in dallas, texas where a stranger leaps into action saving a truck driver from certain death. he was trapped inside a fiery

wreck when he says an angel saved him. >> he was in the truck and the door wouldn't open. i was just so scared that it was going to blow. >> the rescue was much sweeter for his children who lost their mom in a car accident last may. good news there. >> that's a crazy story. thank god somebody was watching over them. >> that's right. definitely an angel. i'm richard lui. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today been on your nbc station.

some arizona animals are getting out of the cold with nightly temperatures dipping below 30 degrees, tortoises need all the help to get warm. that's why they have a heated shelter where they're packed together. even the crocs need to stay warm in a heated tub. in the london zoo landmark the shard will open next month with incredible views of the capital city outfitted with digital telescopes and 360-degree windows. at 1,000 feet high the shard is the tallest building in western europe. so much for resting in peace. a swedish company has developed a coffin with music in your resting place. connected to a 4g compatible tombstone, the play list can be

managed by friends and family through an online music service. however with a hefty $30,000 price tag it may have to be your final purchase. i can't manl why you'd want this. >> i don't know why but you can guarantee somebody will buy that. >> but 30,000 chuckles? come on. that's a lot. time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the first official portrait of kate, duchess of came braj is being unveiled in london. earlier prince will yaiam and t duchess met with an artist who is known for his extremely real looking portraits. >> with regard to relaxing in this california chair, isn't that what they said i did in the

cabinet? all day long stay on top of the latest developments and the best political analysis on msnbc. then tonight watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. finally, here's what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. from goalen globe winners on stage to winners on the red carpet, savannah is live in los angeles with predictions for sunday'sing about awards night. hear the inspiring stories of a group of high school students that scored major victories in weight loss. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports an more. i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, "today," on your nbc station. have a great weekend.

breaking news overnight, a death investigation in marin. the body of a teenager found just after midnight. details next. new trouble overnight with the boeing 787 dreamliner. news comes just hours before the dreamliner is set to touch down in san jose. the new moves to try to protect the personal privacy of bay area commuters. a live look at the bay bridge. i'm sure not a whole lot of traffic just yet. mike is standing by to get you that information on this friday, january 11th. this is "today in the bay." good morning. it is 4:30. i'm marla tellez. jon kelley is off today. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning.